Inside Samantha Johnson’s quest to build robots for deafblind people

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Welcome to Episode 98 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies and other key members of the robotics community.

Samantha Johnson, founder and CEO of Tatum Robotics, joined the podcast this week. The Boston-based startup won the Pitchfire robotics startup competition at RoboBusiness 2022. The company is building an independent communication tool for people with deafblindness who can’t hear or see. Tatum Robotics’ anthropomorphic hand is designed to sign tactile sign languages for people with deafblindness. You can see a couple of photos and a video about Tatum Robotics at the bottom of this page.

Johnson dives into the challenging system design and the opportunities for such technology. She also discusses her passion for helping the deafblind community, educating us about some of the daily challenges they face. The interview with Johnson starts at the 21:44 mark of the episode.

The podcast also recaps some of the week’s top stories, including a new spin on shelf-inventory robots and a merger between two LiDAR companies.

Links from today’s show:

If you would like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the podcast, or if you have recommendations for future guests or segment ideas, contact Steve Crowe or Mike Oitzman.

For sponsorship opportunities of The Robot Report Podcast, contact Courtney Nagle for more information.